The format of The Wine Advocate reports usually includes an introductory article accompanied by the wine reviews. The introductory article offers an in-depth view of the recent vintages or vintage that is being reviewed. This take on the vintage(s) is not copied from regional and/or producer marketing collateral. The vintage reports are our reviewers’ expert opinions on the vintage, based predominately on their tastings and taking into consideration their regional visits and interviews with winemakers/viticulturalists (grape growers). The introductory article may also contain information about current trends within the region, the recent happenings at key producers and the pricing/current state of the market(s) for those regions’ wines.

Each of our wine reviews includes a tasting note that describes the style, character/personality and quality of the wine, a rating and a recommended drinking window. And, if available, the wine review will list the suggested retail price of the wine as reported by the wineries and/or importers as well as naming the importer(s). Often our wine reviews will also include a comment on whether or not the wine offers good value in the context of the market. In short, we aim to convey all the relevant information our readers require in order to make an informed purchasing choice to suit their wine needs.

Robert Parker sites two principal forces that shaped his view of a wine critic’s responsibilities. Firstly, he was significantly influenced by the independent philosophy of consumer advocate Ralph Nader. And secondly, he was marked by the indelible impression left by his law school professors, who in the post Watergate era pounded into their students' heads a broad definition of conflict of interest. These two forces have governed the purpose and soul ofThe Wine Advocate.

We firmly believe that the role of the critic is to render judgments that are reliable. They should be based on extensive experience and on a trained sensibility for whatever is being reviewed. In practical terms, this means critics should be, above and beyond all else, independent. This demands that The Wine Advocate, Inc. covers all travel, accommodation and sustenance costs associated with reviewing wines for The Wine Advocate reports. Our reviewers are not allowed to accept any gifts or gifts in kind from wineries or any person associated with the sale, distribution or promotion of wines. Furthermore, Robert Parker Wine Advocate and the website, RobertParker.com, are and will remain subscriber funded and supported. We do not permit any advertising in these publications.

The majority of our critical review tastings for The Wine Advocateare done as large-scale annual tastings that encompass the wines of a major region and the recent vintages of that region, which are just being released or will soon be released for consumer purchase opportunities. Our reviewers conduct the bulk of their tastings under professional office tasting room conditions, where they can control important tasting factors such as room temperature, bottle temperature, lighting, glassware type / cleanliness and ambient smells. We taste from full bottles that are opened and prepared by the reviewers themselves or members of our team. And we taste the wine in their peer-groups, such that the same or similar regions, grape varieties, styles and vintages are tasted together in flights.

There are exceptions to our core means of tasting for The Wine Advocate, which include tastings performed during the annual winery visits our reviewers conduct each year for each major region in order to gain a more in-depth and unbiased understanding of what is happening in the regions. The other major exception is when we conduct barrel tastings, as is the case with the production of our annual Bordeaux en primeur report. The wineries that are selected to be tasted in this manner are chosen solely at the discretion of our review team.

Here’s why: Professionally speaking, blind tastings can serve as a rigorous means of testing tasting skills, experience and wine knowledge, as demonstrated by institutions that perform annual blind tasting exams for their students such as the Institute of Masters of Wine or the Court of Master Sommeliers as part of their accreditation processes. Beyond this, blind tasting can help to dispel any preconceptions that the taster may have about a particular grape, label, region or vintage, for examples, although presumably such preconceptions shouldn’t exist among unbiased professionals.

At The Wine Advocate, our reviewers are highly experienced tasters, specially trained to understand and recognize wine quality in a glass. They do not allow terms like "Grand Cru" on the label to persuade them to believe a wine is necessarily better than one that does not bear these words. We clearly understand that the major and perhaps the most valid justification for blind tasting among professionals is to preclude the possibility of being swayed by the financial agendas of the taster’s employing publication or company or any other personal bias considerations that may exist (disclosed or not). This is not an issue for us at The Wine Advocate. (Refer to our "Code of Ethics" section.)

What are the shortcomings of blind tasting? When done strictly for examination purposes or fun, none. But as professional critics, it is our belief that knowing what the wine is can often help an unbiased, professional taster understand the quality and potential of a wine a little better. Having considerable experience of tasting a particular wine when it is young / first released and knowing intimately how that wine tends to develop in bottle is a rare and valuable asset possessed by the best wine critics. All this knowledge and experience is tossed out the window when a wine is tasted blind. Judging a wine in the context of a critic’s recalled experience of other vintages of that wine ultimately results in a better assessment of the wine than knowing nothing at all. The wine world is built on the premise that singular wines develop singularly – so why should they all be professionally assessed as one of the herd?

With regards to samples for reviews, these are either purchased or requested by our reviewers, specifically for the annual reports for their areas of responsibility. For ethical reasons, unsolicited samples are not accepted for review. Our target audience is the wine consumer, not the wine trade. While it is important to maintain a professional relationship with the trade, we believe the independent stance required of a consumer advocate often, not surprisingly, results in an adversarial relationship with the wine trade. It can be no other way. In order to pursue this independence effectively, it is imperative that our reviewers maintain a distance from the trade. While this may be misinterpreted as aloofness, such independence guarantees hard hitting, candid, and uninfluenced commentary.

This all said, if a winery or importer would like their wines to be brought to the attention of the relevant regional reviewer so that the wines may be considered for review, we do offer a Wine Submission form on our RobertParker.com website. We cannot however guarantee that by submitting this form, the wine will be included in the next sample call-out for that region. The choice of samples for Robert Parker Wine Advocate tastings remains solely at the discretion of our reviewers.